Million-dollar skim lands Woodside contractor in prison

A Woodside man was sentenced Friday to 31 months in prison and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for structuring banking transactions to avoid reporting requirements, federal prosecutors said.

Per Alftin, 52, pleaded guilty June 24 to a single count of structuring financial transactions to avoid reporting requirements.

According to a plea deal, Alftin admitted to skimming nearly $1.5 million in cash from the gross receipts of his business, Alftin Construction.

Between 2009 and 2012, he structured his bank transactions to hide those activities, according to prosecutors.

Alfin admitted that he knew banks have an obligation to report certain cash transactions and he made efforts to prevent those reports.

Alftin must also be under supervision for a year once he is released from prison, prosecutors said. He will begin his sentence on Feb. 2, 2017. The case was investigated by the criminal investigation unit of the Internal Revenue Service.